


Haunted

by RowenaZahnrei



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Black Lagoon - Freeform, Colony, Computers, Cyborgs, Gen, Ghosts, Halloween, Haunting, Lore - Freeform, Monsters, Mystery, The Borg, Vampires, Werewolf, Werewolves, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-01-26 21:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12566932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RowenaZahnrei/pseuds/RowenaZahnrei
Summary: Inspired by TOS: Shore Leave. A distress call from the newly established TerraLuna XIII colony brings the crew of the Enterprise-D to a place where monsters are real and reality is a nightmare. Will the away team be able to cope with confronting their terrors face to face? Can they solve the mystery of TerraLuna, or will they be forced to abandon the colony to the monsters that lurk in the moonlight?COMPLETE STORY! Reviews Welcome! :D





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of its characters. I'm just here to play. Please don't sue me or steal my story. Thanks! :D
> 
> NOTE: Hi Everyone! Tonight is Mischief Night, a.k.a. Goosey Night, a.k.a. ...Cabbage Night...? Basically, it's the day before Halloween! So, in the mischievous spirit of this goosey cabbage season, I offer up the following Halloween story to be ripped from my brain and served to you in several parts. Bwa ha ha! OK, that sounded pretty gross. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my story! :D

**Haunted**

**A Halloween Story by Rowena Zahnrei**

Part I

A blinking signal light appeared on Lt. Worf's upper bridge security console. The Klingon officer quickly tapped the keypad.

"Captain," he announced. "We are getting a distress call. The TerraLuna XIII colony requests immediate assistance."

"TerraLuna," the first officer, Commander Riker, repeated. He turned to face the captain. "We were just there a week ago delivering medical and construction supplies. Everything was fine."

Captain Picard rose from his command chair.

"Does the message provide any details, Lieutenant?"

"It is the standard, repeating distress signal for a colony—" Worf frowned and tapped at his console. "Captain, the level of urgency has just been raised. The signal now indicates the colony is under attack."

"Attack?" Counselor Deanna Troi said. "But, that colony was only established eight months ago. They have nothing of any value, no strategic importance. What could possibly have happened?"

Captain Picard looked up at his security chief.

"Are there any other ships in the area, Mr. Worf?"

"No, sir," Worf reported.

"Long range sensors indicate no unusual electromagnetic activity or energy surges in the vicinity of the system," the android second officer, Lt. Commander Data, volunteered from his ops station at the front of the bridge. "If the colony is under attack, it is not likely to be from orbit."

"A natural disaster, perhaps?" Riker suggested. "They haven't yet established a weather protection grid."

"Surely, that wouldn't qualify as an 'attack,' Troi said.

Picard pursed his lips.

"Signal Starfleet and the colony," he ordered, tugging at the hem of his uniform's tunic as he resumed his place in his command chair. "Tell them the Enterprise is on her way. Helm, set a course back to TerraLuna XIII. Warp Nine."

The navigation officer, Ensign Gates, efficiently tapped the required settings into her control console.

"Aye, sir. Warp Nine," she said.

Captain Picard leaned forward, his eyes fixed on the starscape filling the viewscreen ahead.

"Engage."

To Be Continued...

Reviews Welcome! :D


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :D
> 
> Today's been a lot busier than I expected. I had to do a lot of cooking for tonight: mummy meatloaf, chocolate rice marshmallow treats shaped like hands and bats, a chocolate skull cake baked with a strawberry cheesecake brain filling, and a jiggly strawberry coconut brain-shaped jello mold with cherry jam blood clots and gummy worms! LOL! I got this chapter done, though! Yay! :D Now, I have to dress up to hand out candy. I made a green velvet wizard cloak with mechanical wings I can open when I pull a wire in the sleeves. It's pretty scary in the dark. LOL!
> 
> Thanks so much for your reviews! I hope you enjoy this next chapter! :D

Part II

Strong winds blew through the empty town square, sending leaves of orange, russet and gold skittering and swirling across the pavement. They danced around the grassy common, its bandstand and ball fields, the eerie creaks and metallic groans of the playground equipment cutting through the stillness as five sparkles of light appeared near the swings.

The sparkles quickly coalesced into five figures in Starfleet uniform: three men and two women with phasers already in their hands.

While Worf took stock of their surroundings and Data began a tricorder scan, security officer Lt. Jaclyn Doe took in a deep breath.

"Smell that air," she said. "Sweet and crisp and almost smoky… It's like autumn in New England, back on Earth."

"It sure looks the part," Riker commented, glancing around at the quaint, quiet main street with its wrought iron lamp posts and buildings of brick and glass.

Troi frowned.

"When we were here last week, this street was full of people," she said. "There was a band playing in the gazebo, children on the swings… Now…"

She shook her head, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"Something terrible has happened here, Will. I sense anxiety…enormous fear…"

"Commander," Data said, alerting the group to the approach of two colonists dressed in a quaint, old fashioned style that suited the town around them. The pair seemed flushed and breathless, their clothes torn and stained with grass and mud.

"Go, go!" the colonists were shouting. "Go away! You mustn't stay here!"

"That's John and Elizabeth Proctor, from the town council," Troi said in startled recognition.

"John! Elizabeth!" Riker called back as the away team hurried to meet them. "We came in response to your distress call. What's been going on here? It said your colony was under attack."

"Oh, Commander, you have no idea," Elizabeth said, her red-rimmed eyes wide. "People are afraid to leave their homes. There have been such monstrous— Oh...I can't..."

"There have been deaths, Commander," her husband said, holding her as she sobbed against his shoulder. "Terrible doings...mostly after dark."

"Many of our livestock have been slain," Elizabeth told them. "Chickens mauled, cows torn apart!"

"Four children went missing after playing by the river, just there." John pointed to the river walkway beyond the playground, dotted here and there with picturesque stone and wooden bridges. "Their bodies were found with no eyes...no—"

"Stop, John, please," Elizabeth sobbed.

"When did all this start?" Riker asked.

"It was around the time of the meteor shower - isn't that right, John? Just four nights ago," Elizabeth said. "Before that... Oh, you saw how wonderful this place was before that! But now..."

"Something is out there, Commander," John said somberly. "Some monster or monsters unseen. It's preyed on our animals, and it's preyed on our people. That's why we sent the distress call. We must find this beast and stop it, or else get ourselves away before there's none of us left."

"Commander," Data said quietly, moving close enough for Riker to see his tricorder readout. "I am detecting no anomalous life readings in the vicinity."

"And, you won't," John said. "Not now. Not until twilight, at the very least. That's when the howling begins."

Riker set his jaw beneath his beard.

"All right," he said. "John, Elizabeth, would you be willing to show us the sites of these attacks? If what you say is true, I'd like to gather as much information as possible before dark."

"I'll take you to the pasture," Elizabeth volunteered. "John?"

He nodded.

"I'll show you where we found the children, washed on the shore."

"Then, I want two teams," Riker ordered. "Worf, Counselor, Lt. Doe: you'll accompany John to the river. Data, you and I will go with Elizabeth to check out the pasture."

"Aye, sir," the officers acknowledged.

"Remember to keep your comm channels open," the commander added. "If you spot something even remotely out of place, I want to know about it. Let's go."

Troi watched with her lips pressed tightly together as Riker and Data followed Elizabeth out of the park.

"It's just this way," John said, leading the rest of the group through a swinging gate in a short, picket fence toward the river's edge. "Not more than a quarter mile from the main bridge. Watch your step in those shiny boots of yours - the mud's a bit slippery."

Doe followed close on Worf's heels, one hand holding her tricorder, the other on the butt of her holstered phaser.

Troi trailed a few steps behind, her concentration fixed on her Betazoid senses. There was something out there, she was sure of it. Even if Data's scan hadn't picked it up, she could feel something...a nebulous presence out there...beneath the water...behind the trees...

A sudden splash pulled her from her thoughts just as a pair of iron-strong arms pulled her into the river's freezing current.

Troi tried to scream, only to end up with a mouth full of water. She struggled and kicked, but her attacker dragged her into a terrible, disorienting roll that forced the air out of her lungs. Dark water closed in around her. She couldn't see, couldn't breathe. A wave of panic swallowed her thoughts and she cried out with her mind...

_...Imzadi..._

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next part is coming soon! Stay tuned! :D


	3. Chapter 3

Part III

Riker stopped in his tracks, a terrible sense of foreboding washing over and through him.

"Deanna," he gasped.

Data had gone ahead while Elizabeth hiked toward the swinging, metal gate at the end of the path, scanning his tricorder over the pasture and adjacent cow barn. The grassy terrain beyond the town center was anything but flat. Its lumpy, sloping contours concealed numerous large rocks and small boulders: hundreds of hidden bumps and dips that forced the walkers to watch their every step to avoid tripping.

The cow barn itself was very large and spacious, with dozens of curved, wooden hoops holding up a translucent, domed roof that offered protection from the sun's rays while letting in plenty of light. The air inside held the sweet, zoo-like smell of cows, hardwood, rich sod and fresh-mown hay.

Under normal circumstances, Data supposed the pastoral scene could have been considered quite tranquil. But, as it was, it seemed the cows were as spooked as their human caretakers. Instead of lounging in the warm shade chewing cud, the few cows the android could see stood huddled together in the far corner.

Data glanced back at Riker, intending to ask the human if he concurred with the android's interpretation of the cows' apparent emotional distress, when he noticed the commander seemed to be in some distress of his own.

"Commander?" Data inquired, his head tilted just slightly as he lowered his tricorder and closed the distance between them. "Is something wrong?"

"I…I'm not sure," Riker said, straightening up and slapping the combadge on his chest. "Riker to Troi."

A slight hissing sound met their ears. Nothing that could be mistaken for a reply.

The two officers shared a concerned look.

"Counselor Troi, this is Lt. Commander Data," Data tried his own combadge. "Please respond."

The same static hissed softly, and Riker clenched his fist.

"Riker to Worf!" he snapped. "Lt. Doe, come in!"

Nothing.

Data tapped at his tricorder. His pale brow furrowed deeply and he seemed to frown.

"Data?" Riker prompted.

"Strange," the android said, his golden eyes carefully inspecting the device. "My tricorder has ceased to function."

"What?" Riker moved to look at the device over Data's shoulder. No matter which settings the android tried, its little screen - which had been working just fine less than a minute ago - now showed only greenish static. "But, how—"

"Trouble, Commanders?" Elizabeth asked, coming back to join them after opening the pasture gate.

"There's a problem with our communicators," Riker said, fighting to contain his frustration. "We can't seem to contact the rest of our landing party."

"I do not believe it is the fault of the communicators, sir," Data said, closing his useless tricorder and slipping it back into the holster on his belt.

"What do you think is responsible," Riker demanded.

"If I were to make a logical supposition, sir," he said, "I would say an external force is at work. My 'best guess' would be a particle scattering field has come into operation in this area. The interference caused by such a field would account for my tricorder being similarly nonfunctional."

"I don't think I've heard of a particle scattering field," Elizabeth said worriedly. "Is it dangerous?"

"Only in the sense that it makes modern communication, defense, and transport systems all but unworkable," Data said. "A particle scattering field is designed to disrupt all electromagnetic and subspace carriers. That includes our communicators, tricorders, and even our phasers. As long as it remains active, transporters will be similarly ineffective."

He looked straight at Riker.

"We will be unable to return to the ship, sir."

"What about a shuttlecraft?" Riker asked.

"A strong enough field would disable a shuttle's engines and navigation system," Data said. "Attempting to fly through it would likely result in an explosion."

"Oh…" Elizabeth brought her hands to her mouth.

Riker scowled.

"Then, you're saying we're stuck here," he said. "With no way back, and no way to contact the ship."

"In essence, sir. Yes," Data said. "At least, until the field is once again deactivated."

"What about you, Data? Will the field affect you?"

Data flicked his golden eyes to the side, seeming to consider.

"My positronic systems are self contained," the android said. "As long as I attempt no external network links, I should be fine."

"Well, that's something at least," Riker said, and sighed. "Elizabeth, are you absolutely sure you know nothing about this scattering field? Its source?"

"I'm afraid not, Commander," she said. "I swear, this is the first I've ever heard of such a thing."

"If you recall, sir," Data offered, "a scattering field similar to this was once used by the Tamarians to prevent us from retrieving Captain Picard after they transported both him and their own captain to the surface of El-Adrel IV, where—"

"Not now, Data," Riker cut him off, and the android obligingly closed his mouth. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth, but we'll have to cut this investigation short. Without communications, we need to head back and find the others."

"I understand," she said. "Just give me a moment to close the gate."

Riker set his jaw and stared up at the sky.

"The sun's getting lower," he observed. "It'll be dark soon."

"Within the hour, sir," Data agreed.

Riker frowned.

"Do you think whoever initiated this scattering field could be responsible for the terrible—"

A piercing shriek cut through the golden, autumn light.

"That was Elizabeth," Riker said, the two officers already racing down the uneven path from the cow barn to the gate.

At first, the colonist seemed to have vanished. The only sign of her was the dent her feet had left in the long grass - until the rustle of leaves turned their attention to something green moving swiftly across the pasture, toward the shadowed treeline beyond.

"Commander!" Data pointed.

"What is that, a snake?" Riker asked, squinting against the setting sun's glare.

"I do not believe so, sir," Data said. "It appears to be a vegetative growth. A vine or tendril of something potentially far larger."

"Whatever it is, it's got Elizabeth," Riker said, aiming his phaser.

"Phasers will not work," Data reminded him. "With your permission, sir, I will retrieve her."

"Go," Riker told him, scowling at his unresponsive weapon in frustration. "But take care! We don't know what's out there."

"Aye sir," Data acknowledged, nimbly hopping the fence and dashing after the rapidly retreating plant.

Data didn't often exercise his android speed, but when he did the sight was pretty impressive. Maintaining the pace of an Olympic sprinter, he overtook the coiled vine in a matter of moments and grabbed it tightly with both hands.

The vine shivered and began to writhe wildly, as if trying to shake him off.

Data just latched on harder, using all his android strength to twist the vine's fibrous sinews just above the coils that held Elizabeth fast.

A terrible, inhuman screaming resonated from inside the forest, and an enormous green stem with long, thick leaves reared up from among the trees. The ends of the leaves were sharply spiked, like the 'traps' of a Venus flytrap and, as the plant reared higher, the sensitive 'traps' snapped wide open, revealing the brightly colored pink, red, and purple maws within.

"Good God…" Riker gasped, his own mouth dropping open at the horrifically surreal sight. "Data - watch out! There are more of those tendril things coming!"

The android's face was locked in concentration as he methodically worked at weakening, then breaking the tough, woody strings. Viscous sap leaked from the wounded vine, but Data's synthetic skin seemed impervious to any poison or irritant it might contain. He kept twisting until the vine finally snapped, then immediately began working to help Elizabeth break free of the tightly wrapped coil before the new vines could reach them.

The plant's screams grew even worse: hideous, high-pitched shrieks that vibrated Riker's entire skeleton. He clasped his hands to his ears, staggering backwards in pain, only to realize the ground had begun to shake. He fell to the rocky grass, struggling to rise to his knees only to be knocked back as a broad split appeared in the quaking ground between himself and the pasture gate.

He scrambled out of the way as the crack continued to widen, revealing a network of slender, yellowish roots beneath the broken soil. The roots writhed like worms as the enormous, screaming plant lashed about in agony.

After what seemed to Riker like half an eternity of helpless battery by quaking ground and loosened rocks, the shaking stopped and the screaming died away, fading into the distance like a banshee's siren song.

Bruised and breathless from the violent ordeal, Riker clambered to his feet and rushed to the edge of the cavernous gap, desperately scanning the pasture on the far side for any sign of his friend.

"Data!" he shouted, cupping his hands to his mouth. "Data! Where are you!"

But, Riker heard no answer.

"Data!" he called again as loudly as he could, projecting from his diaphragm as Dr. Crusher had taught him during her stage acting lessons. "Elizabeth! Answer me!"

"You're bleeding."

Riker spun in place to see a young woman with long, dark hair staring at him from just within the cow barn. He brought a hand to his forehead, and it came away slick with blood and dirt.

"I can help you," the woman said, slowly moving deeper into the shadows. "Come inside."

Riker glanced back at the apparently empty pasture, then set his jaw and marched after her into the barn.

"I need transportation," he said. "Now. Something basic, maybe with a combustion engine. Or a horse. A horse could do. You raise horses here, don't you?"

The woman had moved to an equipment storage alcove, where she seemed to be digging through a large, black box.

"You need looking after," she said. "We will take care of you."

"I'm telling you, I don't need medical attention," Riker said firmly, striding over to join her. "What I need is to find my people, and quickly. If you could lend me a—"

A second woman detached herself from the shadows, followed by another, then another.

Riker blinked and swayed slightly, his head wound starting to throb as his pulse quickened.

There was something strange about the way those women were staring at him. Something in their stance, their gleaming eyes…a predatory hunger that sent a chilling shiver down his spine.

He tried a smile, backing slowly toward the exit as the shadowy women stalked nearer…nearer…their mouths opening wide to reveal long, pointed fangs…

"What the hell…!" Riker exclaimed, his wide-eyed disbelief threatening to spark an incredibly inappropriate burst of laughter. "But, no…no… You can't be…!

The fanged women swarmed him, closing the distance quicker than he could blink. They clawed at his arms, his hair, his shoulders, straining to reach his neck…

"Vampires!" he gasped, ducking quickly and rolling to his feet out of range. He raced for the barn's wide doorway, but the vampire women moved like shadows against the wall, cutting him off at every turn.

The cows huddling tightly in the corner seemed to give him a sorrowful, commiserating look, but Riker was having none of that. Diving to the ground, he crawled under the cows' legs, then rose to his feet in the middle of the tiny herd, shouting and slapping at the cows with his hands.

"Move!" he shouted. "Move it! Come on, let's go! Stampede! Everyone out of here, now!"

The domesticated milk cows mooed and stamped their hooves, but they didn't budge an inch.

The vampire women smiled.

Riker winced.

"Damn…"

To Be Continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References include - TNG: Darmok. Please let me know what you think, and stay tuned for more, coming soon! :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, there's nothing like that new chapter smell. Hope you enjoy this next part! :D

Part IV

"It's got her!" John Proctor shouted. "It's pulled her under!"

"What is it?" Worf demanded of the colonist, his teeth bared in a threatening snarl.

"I…I don't know," John stammered. "A monster. It took those four children, and now your counselor—"

"Scan the river," Worf ordered Lt. Doe, who turned her tricorder toward the dark water.

"It's not working, sir," she said, trying frequency after frequency. "All I get is static."

Worf growled low in his throat and tightened his grip on his phaser.

"Contact Commander Riker," he snapped. Then, he dove into the rushing river without another word.

"Lt. Worf, wait!" Doe cried, but the Klingon was gone, vanished beneath the current.

John dropped to his knees on the muddy riverbank.

Doe slapped her combadge.

"Lt. Doe to Commander Riker," she said. "Commander Data, please come in!"

"No response…" John murmured, rocking slightly as he pressed his folded hands to his chin. "No response… No response…"

The young security officer scowled at him.

"Doe to Enterprise," she tried. "Doe to Captain Picard!"

"First twilight comes, and then the howling," John said in a strange, sing-song voice, still rocking on his knees. "Your phasers can't save you then, oh no… There'll be no one to see, no one to hear…"

"Hear what?" Doe demanded.

John turned to look at her, his wide, wild eyes gleaming orange in the sun's dying light.

"Your screams…"

*******

Data sat straight up, clods of soil and grass falling from his hair and shoulders. With quick, bird-like motions, he swiftly checked his diagnostics and physical status, then looked around.

Songbirds and crickets had resumed their twilight songs, punctuated here and there by a raven's caw, a frog's low croak...

Satisfied the worst of the danger had passed, at least for the moment, he climbed to his feet to offer a hand to Elizabeth.

"I've never known an earthquake like that," she said, accepting his assistance, then beating at the greenish stains on her clothing. "Not here, on TerraLuna."

"I believe that…plant…was responsible for the tremors," Data said, turning his curious golden eyes toward the deepening shadows both above and below the treeline. "Its root system must have extended beneath much of the pasture."

"Yes, well," Elizabeth said, flipping her hair back behind her shoulders. "We'd better be getting back to your friends. Now that plant thing is gone, I think we should all consider finding shelter for the night…before something even worse finds us. Look there."

She pointed past the setting sun to a different part of the rapidly purpling sky.

"The moon?" Data inquired.

"A full moon," she said, then flinched as a raven soared overhead. "We should hurry. It's getting too dark to be out in the open like this."

"Why?" Data asked, quickening his pace to walk beside her across the uneven terrain. "Elizabeth, it would be most helpful if you told me what you know."

"I…"

She stopped short, her eyes widening as she stared at something past the android's shoulder.

Data turned to see a pair of large, night adapted eyes gleaming greenish gold in the darkness beneath the trees.

"What is it?" he asked, moving to take a protective stance between Elizabeth and the creature. The particle scattering field interfered with the android's ability to adjust his optic sensors to read frequencies outside the human visual spectrum, but his sharp eyes could just make out a long, lean frame in the dimness, reminiscent of an Earth wolf, only some three times the size…

"Oh, God," the woman whispered, backing away on shaky legs. "Oh, God, it's the wolf… The wolf John saw last night. Oh, God, run… _Run…!_ "

She dashed for the gate, tripping and scrambling in panic. Data kept his eyes fixed on the creature's.

"Elizabeth!" he called, aiming to keep the shadowed beast's attention fixed on him as he backed slowly away from it, toward the trees. "It is inadvisable to run from a wild animal. You may provoke its instinct to give chase. Please, remain close to me."

But Elizabeth was gone, over the gate and out of his sight. In the distance, he heard a familiar leafy rustle, a muffled shriek…

The enormous wolf-creature lifted its long, sharp muzzle and sniffed the air.

Data remained as still as only an android could, without breathing, without blinking…

The beast snorted once, then turned away, the sharp sound of snapping sticks following it back into the forest.

The moment it was out of sight, the android released the breath he had been holding and raced into the wood the opposite way, seeking to once again retrieve the colonist from the clutches of the presumably carnivorous plant before it was too late...

*******

The dark water was shockingly cold and surprisingly deep. But, Worf was a powerful swimmer.

A flurry of movement to his left drew his attention to a dark, murky form, approximately the same shape and size as a man. A man swimming with a limp, shadowed figure in his arms...

A figure wearing a blue Starfleet uniform.

Worf quickly swam in that direction, but the murky form seemed to vanish.

Worf surfaced for a moment to reoxygenate, then dove deep, running his hands over the slimy river weeds that grew along the muddy sides and bottom. Just when he thought his lungs would burst, his hand went through the weeds all the way up to his shoulder. Worf rose to take another breath, then dove again and pushed his way through the narrow opening he'd found into what seemed to be a tunnel, black as pitch and thick with oozing mud.

Choosing not to think about the very real possibilities of forks, dead ends, or the tunnel collapsing around him, the Klingon kicked and crawled and forced his way through the ooze, through the blinding blackness, until his stinging eyes caught a glimpse of what he sincerely hoped was sunlight rippling up ahead. Drowning while trapped in a dark, slimy, flooded tunnel was no way for a warrior to die.

Fortunately, the tunnel widened, and Worf swam upwards, following the bubbles caused by his movement.

He surfaced in the still waters of what seemed to be a large cave. Beyond its jagged mouth, a full moon shone over a black lagoon. But inside...

The creature that had snatched Troi seemed to be amphibious. It was bipedal with webbed hands and flipper-like feet. Gill slits showed pink against what appeared to be a plated, blackish-green exoskeleton, and its eyes were large and bulbous, like a fish or a frog.

As Worf watched, it placed Troi's still form down on the smoothest cave rock, where the water had long since lapped away any rough irregularities. Then it stood back and regarded her, tilting its head just slightly to one side, and then the other.

With a terrible roar, Worf burst from the water and grabbed the creature around the middle. It thrashed and wriggled, trying to grab for the Klingon's throat, but Worf headbutted it, hard, right in the breastplate and it went down with a strange, croaking gasp. Worf grabbed it and held it under the water, squeezing its gill slits until it stopped struggling and went completely limp. He roughly dragged the unconscious creature back onto the rock, then dashed over to check on Troi.

What he saw chilled the Klingon far more deeply than the freezing water.

Something about her form had changed. Her eyes seemed to have gone hollow. Her skin was no longer supple and pink but dry and sinewy and her mouth...

Her mouth gaped open in a silent scream...

This wasn't the Deanna Troi he knew. This was a mummy. A shrunken husk with a gaping jaw and no eyes…

Worf clenched his fists and raised his head in a roar that made the dripping stalactites tremble above him. Then, gently, he lifted her empty shell and took it with him back through the tunnel to the river bank.

Carefully, he set his burden down on the grassy bank, then sat down himself, fighting to catch his breath. He had to report this to the captain. To Riker...

A snuffling, sniffing sound caught his ear, and he jumped back to his feet in a defensive stance, his phaser already in his hand.

John Proctor was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Lt. Doe. But, the sniffing was growing louder, accompanied by heavy footsteps...far too heavy to belong to a dog or even a bear.

"Show yourself," the Klingon demanded, turning a slow, wary circle.

A long, wolf-like howl met his challenge, and Worf suddenly found himself flat in the mud with a large, furry creature snarling on his chest. It had a long snout and pointed teeth, like an Earth wolf, but its eyes...

He knew those eyes...

"Proctor?" Worf gasped. "John Proctor?"

The Wolf Man snarled and renewed his attack. It was powerful and far stronger than its slender frame implied, but Worf caught the creature in a scissor hold and quickly took the upper hand. Before long, the trained warrior had the furious monster pinned with his phaser held inches above its snout.

"Remain still, or I will fire," he warned.

The Wolf Man scratched and snarled, fighting to throw the Klingon off.

Worf squeezed the trigger button.

And nothing happened.

The Wolf Man looked up at him with its gleaming, predatory eyes and seemed to laugh.

Worf bared his teeth. But, the Wolf Man snapped first, burying his fangs deep in the Klingon's arm.

Worf roared and fiercely kicked the monster away, sending it yelping back into the the darkness. Then he swayed, and sank wearily back to the ground.

Something was making him terribly woozy. Some poison in the monster's bite...

Worf reached for his combadge. He had to alert the others. To warn them before...before...

But, it was no good. Worf fell unconscious to the soft sound of combadge static.

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References Include: Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954); The Wolf Man (1941).
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, and for your very encouraging review! Stay tuned for more, coming soon! :D


	5. Chapter 5

Part V

"Captain," Ensign Sabrina Giusti alerted from the ops console usually manned by Lt. Commander Data. "I'm reading another massive power surge from the planet."

She wrinkled her forehead, fully focused on tapping commands into the control panel in front of her.

"I think— That is, sensors indicate it seems to be coming from somewhere underground, sir."

Picard strode across the lower bridge to stand by her side, peering down at the ops console's readouts over her shoulder. He'd been pacing around the bridge and in and out of his ready room since they lost contact with the away team, unable to sit still for more than a handful of seconds at a time.

"Could it be our people?" he asked.

"It's difficult to tell, sir…" She shook her head. "I'm sorry… With this strange scattering field in operation, these readings are sketchy at best."

"What about life signs, Ensign," Picard demanded, disinclined to mask the frustration in his voice.

"I am getting life readings, sir. I can identify them as humanoid, but with all the interference I can't differentiate between the colonists and our away team," she reported. "The readings I am getting seem strong and steady, but I'm afraid I can't offer exact numbers, sir."

Picard sighed through his nose, acknowledging the young ensign's anxiety and frustration despite the sharp spike in his own.

"Thank you, Ensign Giusti," he said, more kindly this time. "Continue your scans, and let me know at once if there is any change."

"Aye, sir," she said, and straightened her shoulders.

Picard headed up the ramp to the Engineering station, where Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge stood hard at work.

"Your progress, Mr. La Forge?" the captain prompted.

"I haven't been able to pinpoint the exact source of the particle scattering field, Captain," La Forge told him distractedly. "The energy is rapidly diffused…projected rather like a web, cast from a number of different points around the planet. I've plotted out a model, and…here, you can see," he said, pulling up a spherical diagram. "The projection points are remarkably evenly spaced."

"That looks like a grid pattern," Picard observed.

"Exactly," La Forge agreed. "This isn't some natural disturbance, sir. This energy field was quite deliberately and methodically constructed. As for why, or who might have done it…"

"Such questions are secondary right now, Commander," Picard said, frowning at the grid on the screen. "Our immediate concern must be reestablishing communications with our people, and retrieving them if necessary."

"Understood, Captain," La Forge said somberly. "I'm working on it."

*******

Data stopped running when he reached the grassy edge of a sharply sloping cliff. Below, moonlight glistened on the dark waters of a large lake. A single boat drifted there, far from the rocky shore, but there was no sign of an occupant…

Correction. He could make out a silhouette. A young woman sat up and waved to him, indicating with broad hand gestures that she had lost her oars.

Data could move like a champion athlete on land, but his metal and ceramic skeleton left him too heavy to swim. He quickly scanned the area, searching for any other boats he might use to assist her once he'd located Elizabeth. He started to indicate that he'd be back, but the young woman began shouting. Words the android could barely make out…

"...something down there…something keeps knocking…"

A sudden swell tipped the wooden boat's prow way up, knocking the girl backwards. Another wave from below nearly capsized it.

The girl was screaming now, the little boat rocking and spinning like a leaf caught in a flooded drainpipe. A thick, sinewy tentacle rose from the water and wrapped itself over the boat, then another and another.

Data reached for his phaser and opened an access panel on his inner arm, his positronic brain racing to figure out whether he could adapt his own circuitry to focus the phaser beam despite the interference from the scattering field.

But, fast as he was, the tentacled creature was faster. By the time Data was ready to open fire, the tentacles had sunk back into the dark water with their quarry, leaving the empty boat bobbing like a cork on the rippling waves.

The android's jaw tightened, and he shot anyway, his phaser set to heavy stun. A thin, fractured spurt fizzled from the weapon - nothing like as powerful or far-reaching as a full beam.

But, at least it was something.

"Elizabeth!" he called, his weapon gripped firmly in his left hand. "Elizabeth, please respond!"

A leafy rustle caught his ear, and he turned his gaze toward a dense, bushy hedge growing where the forest met the cliff's edge.

"Elizabeth?" he called again. "Are you there? This is Lieutenant Commander Data."

The rustle grew louder, and a dark figure moved out from the shadowed hedge into a dappled patch of moonlight.

"Elizabeth," Data greeted her. "I am relieved to find you unharmed."

Elizabeth raised an arm, her finger pointed straight at Data.

The android furrowed his brow in confusion. When she kept pointing, he turned to look behind him, scanning his eyes along the treeline, the cliff side, and the lake shore below.

"I see nothing overtly dangerous at this moment," he said, attempting to inject a reassuring tone into his voice as he stepped closer to her. "Now, if you would please accompany me, we must return to Commander Riker and the others before—"

Elizabeth's jaw fell open and she tilted her head back, then back even further until Data heard a most disquieting crack! A writhing motion began beneath her and quickly spread, dozens of tendrils rising to lash around her motionless form. More and more appeared, bursting through the grass and soil. Within moments, the woman's body was completely entwined in twisting, wriggling vines.

Data blinked and stepped back, only to bump his heel against a thick, green vine he knew had not been there mere moments before. This vine featured a rough, fibrous pod that split wide open, revealing a sticky mass of whitish threads.

Data leaned closer, his head tilted in curiosity as something inside began to stir...a fully formed, fully dressed female figure curled tightly in a fetal position. Slowly, she rose to her knees, then to her feet, her features as blank and empty as her eyes.

"Elizabeth?" Data queried, thoroughly intrigued. Apart from her blank stare, this figure appeared practically identical to the colonist he knew.

The woman looked directly at him, then opened her mouth and emitted a shrill, terrible cry remarkably similar to the hideous shrieks that had started up when he'd wounded the carnivorous plant back in the pasture. More voices joined hers, more figures emerged from the bushes, slowly advancing with their arms raised and fingers pointed.

Data stared for a moment longer, then politely excused himself and sprinted back the way he'd come, aiming for the pasture and the cow barn to make his report to Commander Riker.

But, something was wrong. Either his navigational sensors were being affected by the particle scattering field or the layout of the forest had somehow changed in the past few minutes, but the pasture was not where it should have been.

He paused long enough to use the stars to orient his position, then continued running, passing tree after tree. By that time, he should have made it to the town center. But, there were only more trees, dark and looming against the moonlight.

"Impossible," he said, staring up at the towering oaks and maples hemming him in on all sides. "Even if I am off course, I should at least be able to hear the river by now."

He required a better vantage point to determine his location, but none of the higher branches seemed strong enough to support his android weight. So, rather than stand there turning useless circles in the dark, Data continued running, certain that he had to reach a clearing sooner or later.

That's when he saw the cat.

It was a house cat, small and sleek and staring at him with wide, luminous eyes.

"Hello," Data greeted.

The cat blinked, then turned and started trotting to the right. After a moment it stopped, sat, and looked pointedly back at him, its long tail flicking back and forth.

"You wish me to follow?"

The cat didn't move.

Data took a step forward, then another, and the cat resumed its trot, leading the android along a diagonal, slightly winding route through the trees. Now and then it paused, as if to make sure Data was still following. But, the android was always there, just a few feet behind.

Before too long, Data caught a glimpse of light among the trees. As he continued to follow the little cat, the lights resolved into windows...the windows of a cottage built from split logs. The door to the cottage stood wide open and, as Data watched, the cat trotted straight into the broad, rectangle of light it cast onto the leaf-strewn ground, its sleek body turning oddly translucent except for its glowing eyes.

Data blinked and stared.

"I do not understand. How...?"

But, the cat's ghostly shape had faded entirely into the light, leaving Data staring up at a much larger, far more threatening form silhouetted against the doorway.

A terrible amalgamation of circuitry and living flesh that was soon joined by another, then another...

"Borg?" he said. "Here? But..."

Data heard a stick crack behind him and realized they had him surrounded. Dozens of Borg drones...far too many for him to fight off on his own.

"Android," the Borg in the doorway intoned. "Primitive artificial life form. You can be assimilated."

"I do not wish to be assimilated," Data stated, tightening his grip on his phaser as he took up a defensive stance against the steadily closing circle of cyborgs.

"Your wishes are irrelevant," said the Borg. "All must submit."

"I decline to accept those terms," Data said coldly, and opened fire.

The fractured beam was pathetically weak, but it served well enough as a distraction. Data ducked under a Borg drone's reaching arm, then dove between two more, rolling straight into a running pace.

There were more Borg hidden in the dark. Far more than he'd initially thought. The android was tireless, but the Borg were relentless in their pursuit, blocking, cornering, countering his every evasion until, finally, Data was left with no choice but to fight them hand to hand, or stand still and allow himself to be captured. With their numbers and no weapon, it was a losing battle either way.

Until he realized...

"The Borg are a collective consciousness. You require your link to the hive mind to function effectively. How have you managed to maintain those links through the particle scattering field in effect on this planet?"

"You will find out soon enough," a Borg beside him stated. "Our network link with your positronic brain is nearly established."

Data narrowed his golden eyes.

"My positronic brain is self contained. You cannot establish a link without my express permission."

"Care to bet, Data?"

Data turned to face the familiar voice, his mouth dropping open of its own accord.

"Lore..." He stared at his android brother, his head shaking ever so slightly. "But...you were dismantled..."

"Yet, here I am," the android said, holding out his arms. "Rebuilt and better than ever. And it's all thanks to my loyal followers here." He smirked. "Ain't Borg technology wonderful?"

"That is not possible. The positronic brain that housed your unique personality is no longer functional."

Lore tutted sadly.

"All this time spent among humans, and still you haven't learned," he said. "Anything's possible, little brother."

Lore swaggered forward and placed his hands on his brother's shoulders, his golden eyes fixed firmly on Data's.

"But then, you've always been stymied by humanity's foibles, haven't you, Data? Forever striving to act as they act, feel as they feel, yet never quite managing to make the grade..."

He smiled broadly, then stepped back and pried up one of his fingernails.

"Well, feel this."

He firmly pressed his thumb to the button his nail had concealed, and Data gasped, a searing, burning pain lancing through his brain. The agony increased exponentially until the trembling android collapsed in a heap, as lifeless as a marionette with broken strings.

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References Include - Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, 1978 - Spock's in that one!); a camping story I heard once that ends with a silly gag: the monster leaves a note in the boat saying he did knock first; TNG: The Ensigns of Command; Descent I/II.
> 
> There's more to come, so stay tuned. And, please review! :D


	6. Chapter 6

Part VI

"Another power surge from the planet, Captain," Ensign Giusti reported. "Much larger than the last one."

"Just what I was waiting for…" La Forge murmured from the upper bridge, his fingers flying over the Engineering station's control pad. "Ha - got it! Captain, I've found the source of the energy field."

Picard strode quickly to the engineer's side.

"What are we dealing with, Mr. La Forge?" he asked.

"Whatever it is, sir, Ensign Giusti's sensors had it right," La Forge said. "It's very well shielded, emitting multiple interlocking frequencies that just refract our scanners… But, the field is getting the majority of its power from an underground complex, about eight kilometers out from the colonists' settlement."

"Can we shut it down?" the captain demanded. "Or, at least, manipulate it enough to get a message through the interference?"

The blind officer turned his VISORed gaze from the screen to face Picard.

"I—" he started, then cut himself off with an odd choking gasp, seeming to stare directly past Picard's shoulder.

"Geordi?" the captain questioned, following the engineer's discomfited gaze.

He saw nothing there.

La Forge shuddered slightly and raised a hand to rub the place where his VISOR attached to his temple.

"Sorry, sir," he said. "I thought…for a moment—"

"Captain!"

Ensign Gates jumped up from her navigation station, her dark features drawn with terror.

"What is it, Ensign?" Picard said, moving back down the ramp.

The young officer was trembling, gripping the back of her chair.

"I…I thought I saw…"

"There!" Giusti exclaimed, pointing toward the viewscreen. "Madre di Dio…"

Picard glared at the image of the planet they were orbiting. At first, he saw nothing unusual. Then, like the manifestation of an optical illusion, his eyes seemed to refocus and he became aware of a soft, three-dimensional haze between the ops and navigation consoles and the viewscreen.

He stepped slowly forward, his eyes narrowing as something white and misty appeared within that haze…a wasted, wraith-like form with dank, dark hair hanging limply past her shoulders… Her eyes were sunken sockets, her dark, gaping mouth opening and closing like a gasping fish…

The captain croaked out a horrified whisper.

"Deanna…? But…that couldn't be…"

"Captain - there's another one!" Giusti cried, stumbling back from the ops station as a second ghostly image coalesced within the haze...gaunt and pale with hungry, haunted eyes… The specter leaned closer, over the console, his bloodless lips stretching to reveal long, terrible fangs…

"Will," the captain gasped, and barked, "What is this? What the hell is going on!"

A dark, hulking figure broke from the mist to crouch by the lower lift, furious red eyes burning in a sharp, wolf-like face. The monstrous creature sported a pelt of thick, shaggy fur, a wild mane fell past its broad shoulders. Its curved claws were stained and sticky with blood…

"Worf?" Picard exclaimed, glaring at the insubstantial monster with mounting disbelief. He stormed up the far ramp, snapping, "Mr. La Forge, I want to know exactly what— Good God!"

A fourth ghostly form blocked the captain's path, blurred by the misty haze rising and swirling around it. It stood motionless, a cybernetic zombie with no independent mind, no will of its own… Its expressionless features were a mottled patchwork of exposed circuitry and living skin, its left eye replaced with an optical scanner…

"Data..." Picard breathed in horror.

Geordi shook his head, his voice a painful whisper.

"Oh, Data…no…"

"Captain," Giusti called, gingerly skirting Riker's threatening image to tap tentatively at the ops console. "These…projections, or whatever they are… I can trace their energy signature back to the planet. The origins are underground, sir, just like the particle scattering field."

"Can you block them, Ensign?" Picard demanded.

"I just need a moment, sir…"

Giusti grimaced and stretched her arm out further, trying to keep the back of the chair between her and the misty vampire hovering over her station.

"I got it," she said and breathed a sigh of relief as Riker's looming image faded away, along with the eye-blurring haze and the other monstrously distorted images of the away team. "Frequency blocked, sir."

"The scattering field?" Picard questioned.

Giusti sat back in the chair and tapped at the controls.

"Still in effect, sir," she reported. "Neither communications nor the transporter beam can get through."

"Merde…" the captain swore. "Thank you Ensign. As you were, everyone," he ordered and turned back to Geordi, who still seemed a little shaken after what they'd seen.

"Your opinion, Mr. La Forge?" he asked, keeping his voice low enough not to be overheard by the already unnerved junior officers all around them. "Was there any reality to what we just saw? Or, were these projections merely intended to unsettle us?"

"I couldn't say, Captain," La Forge admitted. "Not without more information. But, disturbing as they were, the fact that those projections appeared here at all might provide us with a clue. There may yet be a way to pierce this scattering field - if we can find the right adaptive frequency pattern…"

"If there is some…malevolent mind…behind all this," the captain said, "this may have been their way of taunting us. Letting us know they have our people. But, if that's the case…"

He frowned and turned his gaze toward the viewscreen, and the heavily forested planet down below.

"Why was there no image of Lt. Doe?"

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What could be going on? Is the away team doomed, or is there more to this creepy planet than meets the eye? Not much more left now, so please stay tuned! Thanks so much for reading! Your reviews are always welcome! :D


	7. Chapter 7

Part VII

Lt. Jaclyn Doe kept to her toes like a boxer, nimbly dodging the cracked bricks and thick glass shards as she raced down the town's main street.

The town center was eerily dark, save for the moonlight reflecting off the windowpanes of the apartments over the shops. Everywhere she looked, ornamental trees and quaint wrought iron lampposts stood at odd angles, half-ripped out from under the brick sidewalk's once neat, herringbone design. Many of the shop display windows had been broken, some shattered entirely, the items inside scattered and mangled as if by some ravenous animal.

Doe paused, her ears pricked as she slowly scanned her eyes over the multistory brick buildings…the deeply shadowed alleys…

Something was there. She couldn't see it, but she could feel it watching her…tracking her steps…

From the fields and forests beyond the little settlement, distant screams echoed through the crisp night air; shrill, inhuman shrieks she could feel in her spine.

Then the howling began, and Doe resumed her run.

She had witnessed the colonist Proctor's impossible transformation by the riverbank, watched his pale, narrow features lengthen into a furry snout...his widening shoulders strain and tear his clothes...

Her phaser had been useless, her communicator silent save for the soft hiss of static. But, Doe had been well trained. With Worf gone after Troi, and unable to contact Riker, Data or the ship, the young security officer knew she had a duty to protect herself.

Proctor had been writhing, snarling, his eyes glowing blood-red in the dimming twilight. He'd seemed distracted, in pain...

She'd had no way to help him, no means of defending herself against him, so Doe had taken the advantage and slipped away, running up the sloped, muddy bank to the fence. Rolling under the wire barrier, she'd raced toward the town center at a dead sprint, the werewolf's terrible howl following her from the river...

A figure stepped out of the darkness ahead, blocking her path like a solid meat wall. He was tall and strong and dressed in the dark coveralls of a mechanic or technician.

Doe tried to dodge around him, but he moved to the side and then again - bluntly, stiffly, but with astounding swiftness. She stopped short and looked up at his face…

But, it wasn't a face she saw. The man was wearing a mask. Blank matte white with hollow eyes.

There was something familiar about that mask, something reminiscent of a historical figure she couldn't quite place. The blankness of those eyes compelled her to move closer, to try to look a little deeper…

The man lurched, his arm raising as if pulled by a string. For one, frozen moment, the large kitchen knife in his hand gleamed in the moonlight…

Doe grabbed his wrist and twisted with the weight and strength of her full body. The knife clattered and skidded against the broken brick sidewalk and she bent forward, throwing the masked monster to the ground.

His greater size brought her down too, but she grabbed the knife on her way back up and dashed into the alley without waiting for her would-be attacker to climb back to his feet.

Rat-like rodents skulked and squeaked as she passed, giant spiders huddled in shadowed pockets along the close, textured walls. Sticky webs caught the moonlight like laced curtains, highlighting their occupants' quick, skittering movements…

"Spiders…" she groaned, putting on a renewed burst of speed. "God, I hate spiders!"

Doe emerged on a back street lined with pretty wooden houses, gasping and panting, her horrified disgust making her tremble from the inside out. Even back in the open, she imagined she could feel those awful webs clinging to her skin and uniform, those long, spidery legs crawling through her hair…

"Haaawwwooooooooo!"

Doe brandished her knife. That howl had been far too close for comfort.

The house across the street had a fence and a large front porch heavy with shadows. If she could get there, take cover there, she would have the perfect vantage point to observe both sides of the street.

"Haaarrwwwooooooooooo!"

That was an answering call. Another werewolf - maybe more…

Doe took several long, deep breaths…in, out, in out…then launched herself across the street at a full sprint, hopping the picket fence and diving onto the sheltered porch. The base of the wooden pillar by the steps was just thick enough to hide her from view as she crouched there, watching the street.

Red eyes gleamed in the distance, and Doe cringed back, keeping her breathing as slow and silent as possible as two hulking figures stepped into the moonlight flooding the center of the tree-lined street. Two male werewolves that sniffed and snarled as they approached each other, their heavy pelts bristling over their broad shoulders and long backs.

The thinner one, Doe thought she recognized as John Proctor. The other seemed larger, older. His chest and back bore scars that had already healed over. The fur around his yellowed fangs was matted with dark, dried blood. He seemed to laugh as he circled his foe, a cruel, snorting chortle that made Doe tighten her grip on her knife.

Proctor crouched low and ducked his head and, for a moment, Doe wondered if he might be backing down.

The larger werewolf seemed to think so. He rose to his full height, his claws spread and ready to pounce.

But, Proctor snapped first, sinking his sharp teeth into his opponent's shoulder and refusing to let go.

The larger monster howled and shrieked, kicking and clawing. The street fight was savage, bloody, both werewolves fully intent on bringing the other down…

So intent, they didn't see a third shape break from the shadows beneath the shade trees.

Doe couldn't help a gasp of recognition.

"Oh, God…" she whispered, her eyes wide with terrible disbelief. "Lt. Worf…?"

The Klingon lycanthrope was bigger, darker, the deep ridges along his forehead sloping all the way down his long, fanged snout. He tore into the battle like a shark into a school of fish. The bloodied combatants tried to attack, but the Klingon monster tossed them away. Proctor limped back into the shadows, whining like a wounded dog, but the other werewolf took Worf's challenge.

The larger Klingon caught the vicious creature in his jaws and shook him fiercely, like a hound worrying a rabbit. Then, he slammed the monster's bloodied body against the street.

The wounded werewolf whimpered, but didn't rise.

Worf raised his head to the full moon and released an incredible howl. Doe covered her ears, but the keening cry resonated in her bones and tissues...a terrible, vibrating shudder.

When she finally risked raising her head, Worf and the werewolf were gone.

"Not real... This...none of this...it can't be real..."

Slowly, cautiously, Doe rose to her feet, leaning heavily against the pillar for support as she scanned her wary gaze over the silent, blood-stained street.

"What the hell is this planet," she spoke into the darkness, her eyes wide and wild after what she'd just seen. She stepped forward, down one wooden step and shrieked: "I demand to know what the hell is going on!"

A shimmering light materialized in the trim little yard in front of her.

Doe grasped her knife, but the little man who stepped out of the light raised his arms and smiled all over his plump, white-bearded face.

"No need to shout, my dear," he said cheerily. "If you wanted answers so badly, you only had to ask."

To Be Concluded!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References include: The Halloween Series. Michael Myers' Halloween mask in the movies was actually a William Shatner Captain Kirk mask painted white (or, rather, a box of them). Shatner even said in an interview that he once wore a Michael Myers mask out trick-or-treating with his daughters - walking around wearing a mask of his own face! (www.startrek.com/article/was-michael-myers-halloween-mask-william-shatners-face) So, of course Michael Myers had to show up in this crazy Halloween story. LOL! :D
> 
> One chapter to go! Stay Tuned! :D


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, at long last: The Conclusion! :D

Part VIII

"I'm receiving a signal, Captain," Ensign Giusti called from the ops station. "It's from the planet!"

"One of the away team?" Picard demanded.

"It's not a standard frequency, sir..." the ensign reported as she worked. "I have no way to tell..."

"Mr. La Forge," the captain said, "is the scattering field still in operation?"

"It is, Captain," the engineer responded, leaning over his console on the upper bridge. "The signal is coming to us via a complex, shifting set of variable frequencies. The computer is having a little trouble deciphering it…"

"Can you put it onscreen?" Picard asked.

"I'll need another moment, sir…"

La Forge tightened his jaw, watching the shifting energy waves and graph spikes on his monitor screen as he tapped at the keypad.

On the forward viewscreen, the orbiting view of the planet below shifted to fuzzy gray-white static. Very gradually, the static cleared, revealing a slightly pixelated, somewhat jumpy image of a vast, well-lit, silvery space with a high, domed ceiling.

A small, plump man stood in the foreground, dressed in a long, pale blue silk-like tunic richly embroidered with a repeating pattern of golden swirls. He had a trim, white beard; dark, twinkling eyes; and a broad, beaming smile, which he immediately turned on the captain.

Picard stepped forward, tugging the wrinkles from his uniform as he announced: "This is Captain Picard, of the Federation starship, Enterprise. We—"

"Welcome, welcome, Captain Picard!" the man exclaimed, spreading his arms out wide. "Welcome, Enterprise crew to the Planet of Living Horrors!"

Picard furrowed his brow.

"The Planet of… I'm afraid I don't understand," he said.

"Indeed," the man said with a jolly chortle. "We're just starting to reach the same conclusion ourselves. It seems a frank discussion is in order. I insist that you join us!"

"I'm afraid that is impossible at the moment," Picard said, his expression sharp and wary. "A particle scattering field is in operation on the planet, which interferes with our ability to—"

"That's no obstacle, Captain! No obstacle at all!" the man said cheerily. "We'll have you down here in the blink of an eye! Oh, and your Engineer is welcome too!"

Picard and La Forge shared a leery glance.

"I appreciate your invitation," Picard said, "but, before we agree to anything, I would like to know just who—"

Ensign Giusti listened for a beat, then a beat longer to see if the captain would finish his sentence. She glanced to Ensign Gates at navigation, then they both turned around to find the captain and Geordi were gone.

*******

"Everything you see here is fully automated," the plump little Caretaker said, jauntily waving his arms as he led Picard and La Forge through room after shining room of highly advanced technology. "This planet was constructed for our people to come and play out their fantasies - one of a series of constructed worlds, each with its own unique theme. All designed purely for amusement, of course. Simply imagine, and a personalized scenario will be projected just for you! You become the Player on our world-scale Stage, set to battle whatever monsters may be stalking your dreams!"

"Then, this place," La Forge said, staring curiously around at all the vivid screens busily displaying data he could barely follow, let alone understand. "This whole world is like…some kind of amusement park? A planet-sized House of Horrors?"

"Now you're getting it!" the man said happily. "This way, this way!"

The little man led the two officers along a wide, curving corridor lined on both sides with gleaming, heptagonal doors. He turned toward one, which twisted open from the center like a flower, and gestured that they should both precede him in.

"We used to be active all year round," he continued as they entered a whole new spacious complex of polished metal and glass. "But, I won't lie to you, it's been mighty slow going these past three or four centuries. Mighty slow. So, we cut back. Now, we activate our facility only at this time of year, when the leaves begin to change. The days grow cold, the nights grow long and, as our ancient legends would have it, the fabric separating our world from whatever supernatural mysteries may wait in the beyond grows worn and thin. It is a time for stories of spirits and monsters - stories told to chill the blood and thrill the thundering heart!"

"Our culture has similar legends," Picard said, scanning his eyes over the the glass and metal chambers they passed as they walked.

All were empty.

"Yes, yes, so we've seen!" the little man enthused. "Halloween, I believe you call it! You know, it was quite a surprise to come online this season and find your lot already here, those odd, boxy buildings your people constructed up above all decked out with images of monsters and crawly things! Naturally, we presumed you had come to enjoy our services, but now— Ah!"

The plump little man scampered over to a broad, glass window that stretched about two stories high.

"Here we are, here we are!" he said. "We've kept your people all safe and sound, right here."

Picard and Geordi peered through the expansive glass, and gasped.

Hundreds of humanoid bodies lay suspended in the dimly glowing space beyond, each enclosed in their own transparent 'bubble'. The bubbles were arranged in perfect vertical and horizontal rows and columns like an abstract cube, with plenty of negative space in between.

Picard recognized some of the faces; women, men and children from the newly settled colony. They all appeared physically unharmed, but there was no way to tell if they were unconscious or—

"Captain, look! There, at the top!"

Picard craned his neck and took a few steps back so he could look where Geordi was pointing.

Through the dim shadows above, the captain could make out four prone figures in Starfleet uniforms. They were too far away for him to make out their faces, but he knew his officers at a glance. Riker, Troi, Worf... Even Data. Like the colonists, all four seemed stiff and disturbingly still.

He did not see Lt. Doe. But, there were so many bodies there, so many people...

A jolt of anger ran through him and he turned on the grinning Caretaker.

"What have you done to them?" Picard demanded. "What is the purpose of all this?"

"Why, Captain," the little man said, "this is where we store the Players who died or suffered some terrible transformation while immersed in the scenarios we provided them."

"Died?" Geordi exclaimed, raising a hand to his VISOR as he struggled to pick out specific readings through the hodgepodge of electromagnetic gibberish the storage system was emitting. "You mean...these people... They're all—"

The little man laughed.

"Dead? Oh, no, no, no," he said. "They're plugged into the system is all, their minds free to wander the lands above in whatever form their imaginations fancy. It's what that energy field up there is for, you see. Some are ghosts...howling, insubstantial wraiths! Others roam the night as vampires, werewolves, zombies, giant apes, swamp creatures, mad scientists, supernatural killers - even cyborgs! Those who do believe themselves dead - consumed or mauled by their nightmare monsters - they lie at rest here, wounds healed and clothes mended, until the session cycle ends and they have the chance to play again. Just about all your people have become immersed by now. Well, save one. The night's lone survivor, you might say."

He smiled broadly and gestured for them to follow, scurrying diagonally across the wide, open complex to another glass and metal chamber. Through the petal-like door, they found a luxurious space of tile and columns and billowy, cloud-like curtains. Potted palm and papyrus-like plants lined a gently flowing stream that flowed through the chamber and, presumably, into another beyond. Small songbirds in vivid colors chirped and fluttered among the intricately twisted glass rafters, and delicate translucent fish splashed and swam.

"Captain! Commander La Forge!"

"Lt. Doe," Picard gasped, as deeply surprised as he was relieved to see the young woman rushing to meet them.

"You're alive!" Geordi exclaimed, reaching out to warmly clasp her hand. "We thought you were— Well…"

"Villain fodder?" Doe smiled and shook her head. "No sir. Starfleet doesn't train its security officers to be hapless victims."

"Indeed, it does not," Picard said proudly. "So, Lieutenant, with all the nightmarish business that's been transpiring on this world, how did you manage to survive the night?"

"Brash wits and dumb luck, sir," Doe said. "The others—"

"The other members of your party are just about ready to wake, if you would care to join them," the Caretaker said. "We have much to discuss. We, and all of you. Having been so long offline, we knew nothing of your colonization efforts on this world. If it is your intent to remain here, our role...or lack thereof...will have to be made clear."

Picard wrinkled his nose.

"Are you saying you do not object to the colony?"

"Our people created this world, Captain," the little man said sadly, "but they do not live on it. Even I am but a projection - an intelligent interface designed to ease communication between our program and our patrons. We, the integrated computer systems of this world, have long suspected this...amusement park...had been abandoned by those it had been designed to serve. But, such abandonment is a hard thing for a hospitality program like ours to acknowledge, let alone accept. For some years, we have debated whether it would be best to go on waiting, or to finally offline for good. And now, we learn from your Lt. Doe that, when they settled here, these colonists of yours did not even know of our existence. That our planet's purpose and reputation truly had been lost to time..."

"Maybe it doesn't have to be that way," Doe said. "I've been telling him, Captain, that once we explain all this, it's possible all these computers and things won't have to offline. That they and the colonists might be able to work something out."

Picard glanced at the little man, finding it disconcerting to see such a lively personality suddenly appear so deeply dejected.

"You swear that no one has been harmed?"

"Oh, Captain, no, nothing of the kind!" the Caretaker said. "We regret that, through our mutual ignorance, some of you may have been made uncomfortable. But, if you use the proper caution, this planet could be an ideal place for your people to amuse themselves! As ours once did. That is, if they wish..."

A soft, musical signal filled the chamber, and the little man blinked.

"Your people are awake," he said. "They have been transported to the primary auditorium. If you would follow me? We have decided to leave it to your Federation settlers to determine our fate. A fate that may be long overdue..."

*******

"It was like the ultimate holodeck, Captain," Riker said. "Everything about the experience was so real! The enhanced senses...the need for fresh blood. The cravings were as physical as they were mental. I'm telling you, in the hours after those women bit me, I honestly believed I was a vampire."

"It was the same for me," Worf spoke from his position at tactical. "On that world, I experienced something...almost spiritual. For a time, I knew was it was to be a Hunter."

"Well, I found it immensely disconcerting," Troi said. "When that lagoon monster grabbed me, I was convinced that I was drowning. The pain I felt, the terror— On the holodeck, no matter how immersed you may become in the story, there's always a mental barrier, a sense that it is all a fantasy. There was no such barrier on that planet, Captain. When that monster drowned me, I believed that I had died. There is nothing amusing in an experience like that...or in waking up from so terrible a nightmare."

"Then, you don't believe the colonists should have allowed the planet's 'hospitality program' to continue running?" Picard asked curiously. "Albeit, only during the Halloween season."

Troi pursed her lips.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "Perhaps it will be different, now that we know the program exists. I'm just not certain our brains are currently...sophisticated enough...to fully process the impact of such a deeply immersive experience. Even if the scenario is meant to be 'all in fun', the psychological trauma can be very real, and long lasting."

Picard nodded thoughtfully.

"Your opinion, Mr. Data?" he asked the android at ops.

Data swiveled his chair around to face them.

"I found the experience...curious," he said.

"Yeah?" Geordi asked from the upper bridge. "How so?"

"The Caretaker explained that the planet's immersive program is designed to identify and project a Player's fears, so that the Player might confront them," Data said.

"But, as an android, you don't feel fear," Geordi said.

"Not as such," Data said. "Yet, the scenario the program created for me did draw on several concerns I have been considering of late. Namely, my role in the deactivation of my brother, Lore. The views Lore touted regarding our questionable kinship with cybernetic life forms, such as the Borg. The lifespan of my cat, Spot. My own vulnerability to certain piggyback frequencies, such as those Lore used to manipulate me while in possession of the emotion chip he stole from our father's laboratory."

He furrowed his brow over his nose.

"That sounds natural enough," Geordi said.

"Perhaps..." Data said. "But, I do not understand. Since his dismantlement, Lore no longer poses an active threat to me or anyone else. Logically, therefore, my brother's image should not have appeared in such a scenario. And, yet it did."

He looked up at Geordi, his head slightly tilted.

"There may be a glitch in the Caretaker's program," he said. "Perhaps we should inform the colonists."

Troi smiled, just slightly, sharing a glance with Picard, Riker, Geordi and Worf.

"I don't think that will be necessary, Mr. Data," Picard said, and leaned back in his chair. "Ensign Gates, set a course away from TerraLuna XIII. We have a few weeks' shore leave coming up and I, for one, would prefer not to spend that time as a zombie or a werewolf."

"Or a vampire," Riker said through a cheeky grin.

"Indeed," Picard acknowledged and raised a hand, his finger pointed toward the stars. "Engage."

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References include - Red Dwarf: Better Than Life, TNG: Descent I/II, and TOS: Shore Leave! Shore Leave is the episode that provided the inspiration for this whole story, and some of the wording in this chapter was directly adapted and/or paraphrased from that episode. 
> 
> That's it! Sorry it took me so long to get to the end, but I hope you enjoyed my story! Thanks so much for reading. Your comments and reviews are always very welcome and appreciated! :D


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